


I knew you'd haunt all of my what-ifs

by grimeysociety



Series: And though I can't recall your face [6]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Thor (Movies), WandaVision (TV)
Genre: F/M, First Meetings, ShieldShock - Freeform, WandaVision spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-06
Updated: 2021-03-06
Packaged: 2021-03-19 10:20:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,578
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29873178
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/grimeysociety/pseuds/grimeysociety
Summary: A kind of missing scene from episode 1x09 of WandaVision. Darcy makes a phone call.
Relationships: Darcy Lewis/Steve Rogers
Series: And though I can't recall your face [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2146821
Comments: 35
Kudos: 222





	I knew you'd haunt all of my what-ifs

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Em_Jaye](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Em_Jaye/gifts).



> we're finally here

Darcy slammed the car door shut, taking one last glance around. She was leaving it behind while she still could. She was thinking of those handcuffs they’d so easily sealed around her wrist, pinning her to that car. She wasn’t the type to linger, and she knew Monica appreciated that. They’d catch up someday, and they’d explain everything to one another, Jimmy sitting between them with wide eyes.

“Flourish,” she whispered, glancing down at the keys she’d snatched up along with her phone. 

She needed to drive back to get the rest of her equipment, but she also knew her friends would make sure it was all kept safe. 

This wasn’t her car. It was some SWORD agent’s work vehicle, a black Subaru sedan of some kind. She shoved the key into the ignition, heart still racing from lunging funnel-cake-truck-first into Hayward. 

Plenty of gas, she noted. Her eyes drifted to the passenger seat where her phone was sitting. She reached for it, switching it on before putting it back, glancing behind her to quickly reverse and then take off. She didn’t know where she was going, but she could hear her phone vibrating, little bursts of notifications over and over. Her brows rose as she took a right at an empty intersection. She tried to see signs around there for a main road, or wherever the highway was meant to be. 

Her phone kept buzzing, as if it had no reprieve. She pulled over, grabbing it to turn it over and check why it was freaking out. 

30 missed calls, all from the same number. A Voicemail message. Several texts. All from the same contact, the man she had tried to not think about when she was stuck in Westview. She put her phone to her ear to listen to the Voicemail first. 

_ “Hey, Darcy… it’s Steve. I was hoping I’d reach you…” _

Hearing Steve speak made her stomach flutter, and she sucked in a breath. She’d meant what she’d written. None of this had been his fault. She listened to the rest of the message, feeling her lips curl a little. It wasn’t that he’d worried about her. It helped to know she’d be missed, but it also helped to hear him stumble over his words, unsure of what to say. She glanced out the window, drawing in a breath as her phone gave her several options. She chose to call him back, instead of waiting. 

He picked up after a couple rings. The time was the afternoon, not that Darcy’s body could account for it. Everything was so upside-down, she had no idea how she was meant to explain-

“Darcy?”

“Steve. Hey,” she said. 

“Are you hurt? What happened?”

She paused, pulling in a breath. She let it go, a little shaky at the end. She remembered the terror she’d felt as the Escape Artist, the memories of brothers with bullet holes, the smell of smoke, the screams she couldn’t form though she desperately wanted to. Vision had taken that all away, but she couldn’t shake the weight of it all just yet. She’d be okay, she thought vaguely, but she wasn’t sure how that was possible at the same time.

“I can tell you everything,” she said. “I’m alone. I got out.”

“Where are you?”

“New Jersey. The reason I came was - well, it was top-secret SWORD stuff that spiralled outta control. Turns out their dear leader Director Hayward was a total cretin asshole.”

The silence that followed on Steve’s end prompted Darcy to add:

“You… heard of that guy?”

“Yeah,” he said. “What were you doing out there?”

“There’s a lot to it,” Darcy said, passing a hand over her face. 

“I got time.”

Darcy swallowed. “Okay. Okay… I guess I better start at the beginning, like all the good stories…”

-

For a lot of it, Steve was quiet. He sometimes had questions. Other times, he was completely silent, processing it all. Darcy didn’t have to repeat herself, ever. She trusted he understood the gravity of it all. She thought perhaps he’d hate her for not disclosing it all sooner, but she found herself not over-explaining that, either. He didn’t demand she justify keeping secrets from him.

“Do you know where Wanda went?” he asked. 

“No. But I’m guessing Alaska, or something,” she muttered. 

She didn’t know how long she’d been talking, but she was itching to move. 

“What are you gonna do now?” Steve asked, which she hadn’t expected. 

She thought she’d have a more solid plan after telling him the long and short of it. She felt awkward, unsure of what to say. His question felt inexplicably too direct for her to handle.

“I… don’t know. I guess I need some place to crash until I figure out whether my research is under lock and key, or-”

“Where are you calling me from?”

“I, uh, sorta stole a car,” she murmured. “I think Monica’s in charge now, though. She’d probably let me off with a warning if she ever knew. I just didn’t want to stay and get stuck with all the fucking paperwork-”

To her surprise, and then relief, Steve began to laugh. He hadn’t the entire conversation, and she felt herself smile at the sound, her own giggle bubbling up.

When it subsided, she thought of the day slipping by. She needed a shower, something to eat. She needed somewhere that was anchored to this reality, as dreary as a cheap hotel could be. Maybe there was a bed and breakfast place she could squeeze into before the early bird specials began. She thought of the sun setting, and it was already a cold that day…

“Where are you?” she asked.

“Brooklyn,” he said. She heard him breathe a couple times, in and out. “I took the Stones back.”

“You had the Infinity Stones?” Darcy said. 

Of course he did. It would either be him, Thor, or Tony Stark. 

“Yeah,” he murmured. 

She felt another wave of something. Her mind settled on the obvious - it was a wave of affection that she felt crest over her, a squeeze of her tummy, something like longing. 

“So you’re outside of Westview now? Forever?” he said, after she’d gone silent. 

“Yeah.”

“I have an idea.”

-

The loop of the Fairy Trail in South Mountain was only a mile long. Darcy didn’t see many people around, which she supposed was for the better. She wondered if any feedback from Westview might have traveled further. She spent the drive over thinking of what she’d write next, and on what device. Her phone’s notes app would have to do for now, but she’d need a new laptop. The car she’d taken was empty except for the spare tyre in the trunk, and a lone Hershey bar wrapper under the driver’s seat. 

Her phone began to buzz and she pulled it out of her jacket, lifting it to her ear.

“Hey, I’m here,” she said.

“Me, too,” she heard Steve say, but it sounded off. 

She frowned, taking the phone away to stare at the display, to check the reception. It was fine, her battery was getting low, but it didn’t explain why his voice sounded strange and echoing.

She put it back to her ear.

“Where are you?” 

She turned around, peering at the rows upon rows of towering trees. She knew she’d easily get lost here after dark, and the sun had already begun to set by the time she’d got there.

She turned all the way around, to see behind her a figure of a man in the distance. 

It was Steve, staring back at her from across the clearing, her heartbeat picking up speed. He gave a little smile, his phone lowered from his ear. He put it in his slacks, Darcy’s throat feeling thick with the sudden emotion she felt. 

Her eyes prickled. She was never like this. She got the impression this wasn’t like Steve, either. They’d already spent years in the world with half of the population gone, they’d become older and worn down by it all, but they survived. 

Darcy didn’t have to be alone anymore. 

She was walking toward him, Steve doing the same, a giddy type of relief washing over her. It wasn’t some stranger on the phone, it never had been. He was a man that saved her life before she was even born. 

They met in the middle, Darcy stopping, her lips pressing together. 

“Darcy.”

She remembered then that he probably didn’t know what she looked like. He hadn’t said he’d looked her up. Of course she’d known what he looked like, that was inescapable.

“Am I… what you expected?” she murmured. She felt her cheeks flush. 

He gave a little smile, a crease forming between his brows, blue eyes narrowing at her shrewdly.

“You’re shorter.”

“Shorter?” Darcy retorted, and he laughed. “Hey. I’m average-sized.”

“You are short,” he said, stepping forward.

“ _Fun_ -sized,” Darcy amended, and he laughed again. 

His throat bobbed, and Darcy gave a short sniffle. 

“Hey,” he whispered, and he stooped down, wrapping his arms around her. 

Darcy sighed, her arms lifting to cling to him. She closed her eyes, letting herself feel the weight of him against her. 

They breathed together, the setting sun turning the skies violet and orange, Darcy’s limbs feeling heavier as she let herself finally give in. 

“Good to meet you, Darcy,” she heard him whisper, and she began to laugh, tears managing to escape.

**Author's Note:**

> 30 phone calls in 24 hours, I'll add
> 
> [my Tumblr](http://grimeysociety.tumblr.com/)


End file.
